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Woohoo! I’ve got some “after” pictures of our bedroom today. After renting apartments for years it feels pretty liberating to be able to do ANYTHING I want to the apartment. The front bedroom (that we are calling the Master bedroom) is a beautiful space with Bay Windows. The trim had been previously painted white and it had white walls. So it was definitely a blank slate. When I went looking for inspiration for our house I kept searching for “Modern Victorian” I want to keep all the amazing details that make me love the apartment, but I want the space to feel modern and fresh.

I kept coming back to Jenna Lyon’s Brownstone, probably my favorite example of this. What I like about the room is it still feels fresh several years later. They take risks (like painting everything black!) but there are a ton of architectural details and everything feels modern and a little sparse. I loved how they had painted their trim black too, not just the walls. It gives the room a whole different look than accenting the room with standard white moulding. After weighing my options I became obsessed with painting my whole bedroom black. This might not seem like a risk to some people but I have spent my whole life trying to figure out how to make my small cramped apartments feel “lighter” so to actually make some thing darker on purpose seemed scary to me. Coincidentally Valspar contacted me about the same time and I told them I would LOVE to work with them considering all I do is think about paint colors all day. So I started looking for the “perfect black.” Valspar has an awesome Love Your Color Guarantee where if you aren’t happy with your first color you can have another color “on them.” It’s a pretty amazing guarantee because anyone who paints a lot knows that sometimes, no matter what you do, the paint colors don’t turn out how you thought they would. It was so nice knowing I had the option of switching colors if I didn’t love the bold color I originally chose.

My method for choosing paint is pretty simple. 1. I look at at pictures and look for something that works or something that is inspiring to me 2. I try 2-4 different color samples. This step is KEY. There have been so many times I looked at a color swatch and SWORE it was the perfect color, then after I spent all day painting I would get a sick feeling in my stomach when I realized it was totally wrong. 3. After testing then I choose my color and paint the room. This system has worked pretty foolproof for me.

I tried a few different dark greys and blacks but ended up with Dark Kettle Black by Valspar. I was a little nervous when we first put up the paint but by the end I LOVED it. It makes the room feel cozy and dramatic. It is my favorite room and I love waking up every morning in it. One of the first things we did was install our hanging chair which has been my favorite thing. The kids and I crawl into it in the mornings and read together and look out the window. I still want to hang some more art and our bed will be delivered next week (it’s a low platform bed) but am so happy about the direction it’s going in.

This post is sponsored by Valspar: available at Lowe’s stores nationwide. To find your nearest retailer, visit the Find A Retailer tool on ValsparPaint.com. And make sure you remember their Love Your Color Guarantee – if you don’t love the first color you choose, you can have another one on them!

Love it! We painted our bathroom black (and our living room a dark high-gloss navy). Some people thought we were crazy, but I agree with you—in a room with great natural light, it creates a timeless, cozy effect.

I am utterly in love with your decision to go black! I think the black you choose is much warmer then your inspiration and as such it actually has a wonderful homey quality to it and makes it an approachable black for a room. LOVE IT!

i’ve always wanted a hanging chair or hammock in my house. lucky you! it looks great

Jen Taras

December 4, 20139:35 am

Yes! The room looks great! I loved jenna lyons apartment too, and, finally decided to paint our living room with some left over black chalkboard paint. We love it, and so does everyone who sees it. The black makes the room so cozy.

I love your black room!! My husband and I just bought a house and painted our bedroom black as well (keeping it simple with Sherwin Williams ‘black’ I. Semi-gloss)!! Like you, I was quite nervous, but adore the results!! Curious where you got the side table from?? Looking for something just like it!! Cheers!! -L

it SERIOUSLY looks crazy beautiful. it’s neat how it makes the wood floors look a different color, even warmer than before. the chair is the crowning touch. (ps – can you tell us anything about installing the chair – i.e., how to install one safely esp for kids? i want to install hanging rings we have in my kids room but know nothing about how to install something from a ceiling. if you had any tips – or if you recommend getting it done by a pro- it would be great to hear from someone who has done it.).

CONGRATS!

J.Allen

December 4, 201310:02 am

Applause from Boston for your bold choice! Jenna Lyons house is a dream from start to finish so well done in inspiration! I’m looking forward to see the rest of your place.

that sounds so comfy! you’re very lucky!
I love the coral detail of your border frame duvet, beautiful!

Lily

December 4, 20133:00 pm

Love this! Also wanted to note that for some reason this post didn’t end up in my feed. (I use Feedly.) I happened to see your photo on Instagram so came to the site to check it out. Might be worth looking into if others missed it as well.

This is fantastic. The hanging chair, what a dream. I want to sit in that, but, for reals, do you worry it fall out of the ceiling? I don’t know if I could get peace in it.
Also, is that whole wall adjacent to your bed a fat ass painting?! Thats great.

I’m so in love with this room. What’s crazy is that the “before” picture looks EXACTLY like the bedroom in my last SF apartment, down to the layout, wall colors, bay window and even floor pattern! I’m still in a rental, and my current bedroom is probably too small for this to work, but you just made me want to drop everything to run home and paint my walls black. I love how you left everything above the moulding white. LOVE!

I creeped on some of the photos of your old apartments that you linked to in an earlier post, and I was happy to see that you weren’t always *this* amazing at interior design. Gives me hope that I’m not a list cause. One day I will have a home as lovely as yours.

you work fast! gorgeous. I love that you painted the window moldings black too…very seamless and sleek. and it provides such a great backdrop for everything else…helps everything really stand out, like the silhouette of the hanging chair.

Your bedroom seems dramatic but airy and soothing at the same time. Love the hanging chair. It looks like a beautiful room to begin with, so I’m sure whichever direction you go it’ll be a good one. Enjoy your new bedroom!